For the Sake of the Children
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Can the White Queen and Banshee rescue their students from the clutches of Selene and the Vanisher?
1. Chapter One: Kidnapped!

Title: "For the Sake of the Children"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: R  
Spoilers: Sean's and Emma's pasts  
Summary: Can the White Queen and Banshee rescue their students from the clutches of Selene and the Vanisher?  
Disclaimer: Emma "White Queen" Frost; Sean "Banshee" Cassidy; the Vanisher; Selene; the X-Men; Generation X; and all other characters are © & TM Marvel Comics and are used without permission. Everything else is © & TM Pirate Turner.

**Chapter One: Kidnapped!**

The limousine pulled up and stopped in front of Xavier's School for Gifted Children. The bottom of two white boots peeked out from underneath the door as Emma Grace Frost, the headmistress of the private school, stepped out. "Park her in the garage before coming inside," she instructed her driver before motioning for her other servant to shut the door securely behind her.

Emma strode into the open door of the school. She didn't think anything of it as she figured one of her students had left it open. "Carelessness," she commented under her breath as she turned around to shut it.

There was swift movement from behind Emma. Her right blue eye saw the shadowy figure just as a scream began. The scream was so loud that it caused the windows to shatter and shake as if they were fixing to break. Emma's gloved hand instantly balled up into a fist. As she twirled around, the figure dropped down on her. A quick shot of her telepathy caused the figure to fall on top of her.

Surprise filled Emma's blue eyes when she saw who the figure was. "Sean! Why in the world did you attack me!"

"Ack! Em, it's ye!" was Sean Cassidy's response as he lifted himself back up onto his own two feet.

"Of course it's me! Who else would it be?"

Sean offered her his hand which Emma accepted. Sean lifted her up and took both of her hands in his.

Emma was thrilled. Am I finally going to get the loving attention I have waited so long for Sean to give me? She smiled at him as her face met his, but the smile quickly washed away when she saw how serious he was. Oh no! Something must be wrong!

"Em, the children have been kidnapped."

"WHAT! Sean are you sure?"

"Aye, lass. I saw it with my own eyes."

"And you didn't try to stop the kidnappers?"

"O' course I tried tae stop her, but I did nae see the other one until it was too late."

"Who did it, Sean? Who dared to kidnap our students?"

"Selene. And the Vanisher."

"Oh, Sean!" Emma sniffed as tears filled her eyes. "We HAVE to find them! I won't allow what happened to my Hellions to happen to them, too!"

"And neither will I." Sean took Emma in his arms and let her cry on his shoulder. "We'll find 'em, lass," he tried to reassure her. We'll find them, he thought again to himself in an attempt to assure himself that his words were the truth.

**To Be Continued . . . **


	2. Chapter Two: The Phone Call

**Chapter Two: The Phone Call**

Nightfall found Emma lying on her bed, telepathically searching for her students. Bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnngggg! the telephone stopped her search cold. "SEAN, CAN YOU GET THAT?" she called.

No answer.

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg!

Still no answer.

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggg!

STILL no answer.

Bbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggggg!

Emma sighed as she stood up and stretched. She then walked out of her room and floated down to where the phone was.

Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiii-

Emma grabbed the receiver and held it up to her ear. "Xavier's School-"

She was interrupted by a cold, mean voice on the other end of the line. "About time, Frost."

"Selene. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY STUDENTS!"

"Temper, temper. Tsk, tsk... The brats won't be hurt if you give yourself to us in in three days. You have until midnight Friday. If you decide to turn yourself in, telepathically contact me. If I do not hear from you by midnight, Vanisher and I will kill all of your precious children. If I hear from you but you're late turning yourself in, we'll kill two of them for every hour you're late, even if we end up killing all of the little brats." Selene laughed sinisterly.

"S-" The phone went dead in Emma's hand. She paused briefly before returning it to its cradle. She walked through the rooms of the school, searching both telepathically and physically for her fellow headmaster. Her telepathy located him out on the enclosed porch, so Emma went outdoors to tell him the news.

Sean was asleep on the swing. Emma sat down beside him and shook him gently. "Sean?"

No answer.

She shook him harder and called his name again.

Still no answer.

She shook him again and yelled, "SEAN CASSIDY, WAKE UP!"

That did the trick. Blinking, Sean yawned and then rubbed his eyes before turning to Emma. "Em, lass, what is it?"

"Sean, I just received a phone call."

"From?"

"Selene."

That shook the Banshee completely awake. Sitting beside him, Emma begun to fill him in on her one-sided conversation with Selene.

When she had finished, Sean asked, "Ye're nae giing tae di it, are ye?"

I was afraid he'd ask that. Emma took a deep breath before replying, "Yes, Sean, I am."

"But - " The look on Sean's face told Emma he DID care about her.

But only as a friend. Shaking her secret feelings for Sean aside, Emma interrupted Sean, "No 'but's. I have a plan."

"Fill me in, lassie."

When she first began running the school beside Sean, Emma would have told Sean not to dare call her a dog if he called her 'lassie' but not anymore. And not tonight or under such conditions. Instead, Emma cleared her throat and begun, "I'll turn myself in, but . . . "

**To Be Continued . . . **


	3. Chapter Three: I'll Do It

**Chapter Three: "I'll Do It."**

"Any luck?" asked the tall Irish man that sat beside Emma.

As a signal for Sean Cassidy to be quiet, Emma held a finger to her nose. Sean nodded and was instantly silent.

I see you've come to your senses, Frost. You're going to turn yourself in to us?

Yes, but only if it means the children's safety?

I already told you: if you turn yourself in, we'll release the brats.

Give me your word, Selene.

You have my word, Frost; we will release the brats if you turn yourself in to us.

And Sean?

What about the Irish man?

Give me your word that you won't harm him.

And if I don't?

Then, as much as it pains me to do so, the deal's off.

Okay, okay! Again I give you my word; I -

NO!

:sigh: WE will not harm the Irish man.

Good. Now where do you want to meet?

In the suburbs of Worcester, there's an abandoned barn and house. We'll be waiting for you in the barn.

I'll see you then.

I'll be waiting.

The telepathic conversation ended. Emma opened her eyes and glanced at Sean before looking forward and announcing, "Worcester suburbs."

"Ye want tae leave now or get some rest first?"

"Do you REALLY have to ask me, Sean?"

Sean laughed, but his heart was not in it. His heart was with the children, wherever they were, as was Emma's. "That's what I thought. Which vehicle are we taken?"

"My limo, of course."

"Di ye nae think that'd be a wee bit unusual for that part of Worcester?"

"You're right," Emma agreed. "HOWEVER, if we take yours, Selene will suspect something, and we can NOT have that, now can we?"

Sean sighed. "Ye're right, lass."

"As usual." Emma winked.

"Well," Sean said as he stood up and stretched, "let's get going."

Emma stood up beside him and stretched. She was pleased to note the look on Sean's face as she did so. "Let's go."

**To Be Continued . . . **


	4. Chapter Four: A Broken Promise

**Chapter Four: A Broken Promise**

Emma parked her limo in the driveway in front of the house. She got out and calmly looked around at her surroundings before shutting the car door. She walked in front of her limo and called out, "SELENE! SHOW YOURSELF!"

Selene came out of the barn door.

"WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?"

"Safe."

"I WANT TO SEE THE CHILDREN."

"NOW."

"You'll see them in due time."

"Oh! You brought a guest! That's against the rules. Oh, well," Selene shrugged, "I guess we'll just have to eliminate him."

She's good, thought the White Queen. She saw right through my psychic shield.

"VANISHER!" Selene bellowed for her partner.

Before the White Queen could react, Vanisher had appeared next to Banshee, snatched him, and disappeared. Shortly, the Vanisher reappeared next to Selene. There was no sign of Banshee.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM!" the White Queen demanded to know.

"Oh. He's safe. For NOW."

"Your fight's not with them, Selene, it's with me. Release them and fight me."

"Oh, I'm afraid that would be breaking my contract with the Vanisher. You see, I promised the Vanisher that he could have Banshee if he helped me catch you."

"But you haven't got me yet."

"Oh, but, I WILL."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because you would never let me kill the children if you could save them, even if it meant sacrificing yourself."

She knows me good. Too good.

"Face it, Emma, you've made a big, bad mistake! You've underestimated your opponents BIG time! We're more than a match for you!"

"Maybe together, but you never were!"

"I've ALWAYS been MORE than a match for you, Emma Frost!"

"PROVE IT! Fight me! One on one! Winner takes all; the loser loses everything!"

"FINE."

And, with that, the battle was on. Two telepaths. One an external. Who would win?

**To Be Continued . . . **


	5. Chapter Five: And the Winner Is

**Chapter Five: And the Winner Is . . . **

Physically, Emma had Selene in a headlock. Psyichly, Selene was flooding Emma's mind with excruciating pain. And, then, Emma picked up a telepathic message from her teammate, the Banshee: {EMMA! HELP!}

{SEAN!!!!} Suddenly, Emma remembered again why she was fighting Selene: for the lives of her students and her secret love! With renewed, and greater, energy she attacked Selene! While returning the "pain" to Selene's mind, Emma kneed her in the gut! She followed that up with a fast sidekick, and Selene, taken by surprise, was on the ground! {I will NOT do my own dirty work.} While keeping Selene pinned down on the ground, the White Queen took over control of the Vanisher's mind and forced him to use his own knife to rip open Selene's chest and remove her heart! Once Selene's heart had been successfully removed, the White Queen used her telepathy to knock out the Vanisher.

"Even immortals can die," the winner said aloud to the air around her before searching telepathically for Banshee and her students. It didn't take long for her to locate them as they were not attempting to resist her telepathy for once. She entered the barn and went to the first horse stall. "Unusual stall," she commented, seeing how it was closed on all sides, including the top. "I wonder what would happen iiiiiiiiifffffff......?" she mumbled as she opened the front door. She bent down to climb inside and knocked heads with Banshee who was crawling out of it.

"Sean! What are you doing in there?" Emma pretended to be surprised.

"Aye, RIGHT, Em," chuckled Sean as they both stood up and eyed each other to see how bad each were after the battle.

Emma reached out toward Sean's forehead. Her fingers hovered just above it. "Oh, Sean! You're hurt!"

"Nothin' gets by ye, does it, Em? It's just a bruise; it'll heal." Sean then saw a long cut that extended from Emma's top left forehead all the way down to the end of her cheek. His right index finger gently traced its outline. "Em, ye're hurt!"

Emma shrugged slightly. "It's just a scratch; I've had a lot worse." She couldn't help smiling as she cupped her hand around Sean's cheek and began to slowly lean forward, hoping for a kiss from the Irish man who had won her heart. Something she had never allowed anyone to do before.

Sean did not resist as Emma had feared he would. Instead, he leaned towards Emma.

Suddenly, a voice rattled out from behind the headmaster and headmistress of Xavier's School for Gifted Children, "YO! YA GONNA LET US OUT OR WHAT!?!"

Emma sighed and muttered, "Jubilee..."

"Aye, lass," Sean answered his Chinese-American student as he reluctantly moved away from Emma and went to open the enclosed horse stall from which the voice had come.

Once Banshee had opened the horse stall, Jubilee crawled out, muttering, "What took ya so long?" Behind her, followed the rest of Generation X: M alias Monet , the Algerian mutant who had the abilities of flight, super strength, super intelligence, and telepathy, Synch alias Everett Thomas, who could have the ability of anyone around him, Penance aka Yvette, the mysterious young girl whose skin was hard and harsh as any and all negativity around her, Angelo Espinosa aka Skin, who had six extra feet of skin, Paige Guthrie also known as Husk, who was a metamorph, and, last but certainly not least, Jonothon Yvonne Starsmore also known as Chamber, who was a strong telepathic.

"I don't understand," mumbled Everett.

"What di ye nae understand, lad?" Sean wanted to know.

"How come Selene and the Vanisher were able to take us so easily?"

"Yeah," agreed Paige with a question in her blue eyes.

"What's up with that? Jono's even whupped Omega Red," Jubilation Lee reminded her team mates.

"Selene is an extremely powerful telepath," Emma Frost begun to explain to her curious students. "Somehow, she had a telepathic block over the Vanisher and herself. She only allowed those of you to see them when she wanted you to and not before. You focused your attack on her, as you were unaware of the Vanisher's presence. That was your mistake, but it could not have been helped. While Selene had you distracted, the Vanisher picked you off one by one."

"Makes sense," said Jubilee, "but how come none of us knew what was goin' down 'til it was too late for us to do anythin' 'bout it?"

"Selene knew who the Vanisher was goin' tae pick you off an' thus she extended the telepathic block over each o' ye as yer time arrived," answered Sean.

Everett glanced nervously around at his surroundings. "Let's get OUT of here!"

"Yeah!" agreed his fellow classmates.

"Aye." Sean extended his hand out to Emma. "Em?"

"Agreed," Emma gratefully accepted Sean's hand.

"Um, guys, haven't ya noticed somebody's been missin' from her silence, not to mention her I'm-better-than-ya attitude?" Jubilee suddenly recognized that Monet was missing.

"Split up an' look for her. I'm wit' Em; we'll take the back."

"Jubilee, I want you with Synch," Emma continued for Sean, almost as if she was reading his mind.

"Chamber and Husk, ye tae are together."

"And Skin and Penance, we want you two to take the front," finished the White Queen. "Telepathically report to me if you find her or run into any unwanted trouble."

Thus, the team split up into groups of two in search of their missing teammate. Shortly, Husk found her. M had gone into one of her cationic spells and wandered into another horse stall, not realizing what she was doing or where she was doing it. The team met up again out in the front of the old barn.

The teachers were the last to arrive at their rendezvous point. They stopped when they saw the look of horror and disbelief on their students' faces. Banshee poked forward to see what they were staring at. He was clearly surprised by the sight of Selene with a large, gaping, hollow hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

Behind him, Emma joined the others. She was the only one not surprised by the sight as she had been the cause of it in the first place. "Children, I'm sorry you had to see this."

"YOU did this, Miss Frost?" asked Everett in disbelief. "Why?"

"As I've told Sean several times before, I do what I have to do in order to survive."

"Miss Frost," spoke up Monet, "I thought Externals couldn't die? Selene's an External..."

"Yes, she was," nodded Emma. "But everything living can die."

"Hey, how come ya don't have any blood on yer hands?" Jubilee wanted to know. "I didn't see any water in that old rusted barn."

"That's because there wasn't any, Jubilation. I used the Vanisher to kill her."

"Speakin' o' 'im, where IS he?" Chamber wanted to know.

"He must have woken up and teleported away to safety," Emma answered her student's question. "But we shouldn't have to worry about him anytime soon."

"Or Selene," added Paige. "Ya took care o' her."

"I did what I HAD to do," Emma reminded her Southern student.

"Let's get out o' here," Sean repeated what Everett had said earlier.

**To Be Concluded . . . **


	6. Chapter Six: Aftermath

**Chapter Six: Aftermath**

It was late in the second hour of the next day when Emma was able to join Sean on the swing again. "The children are in bed, FINALLY."

Sean yawn and stretched as he snuck his arm around Emma.

"They're upset..."

"They're nae the only ones, are they?"

Slowly, Emma nodded, admitting that she was upset that she had had to kill Selene. "I try so hard to set a good example for the children to follow, but, now, I'm a murderer." She concentrated on watching the unmoving floor of the indoor porch.

"Em, ye did nae have a choice in the matter."

"But I DID, Sean! I didn't have to murder her!"

"If ye had nae, Em, she would've killed ye an' the rest o' us."

"I KNOW, but it doesn't help any."

"Oh, Em..." Sean sighed as he gently rubbed her far arm up and down.

Emma sighed as she leaned back next to Sean. "Sean, what do you think of me?"

Uncomfortable silence.

Emma tried again, "I mean, now that I've killed Selene and all? Have you lost respect for me?"

"Of course nae, Em. Ye did what ye had tae di for us all tae live. An' I respect ye more for the way ye've handled this situation," was Sean's response.

Emma smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For always being there when I need you. For helping me. For giving me a second chance after my past as a villainess. For always knowing exactly what to say and when."

"Ye're welcome, Em. An' thank ye."

"For what?"

"For always bein' there when I need ye. For helpin' me. For always knaeing exactly what tae say an' di an' when."

"You're welcome."

"Em, there's somethin' I've never told anyone in Generation X..."

"What's that?"

"Ye were nae the only one that used tae fight against the X-Men. I did, tae."

"It wasn't your fault, Sean. You were under mind control."

"Aye...how did ye knae?"

"The Professor told me."

"Oh."

They stopped talking for awhile. The only sounds were that of the crickets chirping, the swing going back and forth, and the occasional hoot of an owl.

"Sean?" Emma began to say something at the exact moment that Sean said, "Emma?"

They laughed nervously. Emma looked up at Sean; Sean looked down at Emma.

"Go ahead and say what you wanted to say," prompted Emma.

"Ladies first," Sean insisted that Emma go first.

Emma sighed uncomfortably before beginning nervously, "There's something that I've been meaning to talk to you about, Sean, but the time just hasn't been right. Until now."

"I'm hopin' that that's that ye love me?" Sean guessed with a wink.

Emma blushed and looked away from Sean. "Yes." She rose and walked to the front of the porch.

Sean followed behind her. "Em?" He gently lifted her chin with his finger. "I love ye, tae." With those four little words that meant so, SO much to Emma, Sean slipped his hands around her waist and kissed her. Emma put her hands behind his neck and kissed the Irish man that she loved back.

**The End**


End file.
